Martin Bauer Establishes Foreign Subsidiary in Singapore

In the medium term, Tony Laurent's team will also be providing technical support to manufacturers of beverages and dairy products, confectionary and baby food throughout the South-East Asian region from the Singapore office.

06/02/09 Martin Bauer's objectives are clearly defined: to demonstrate local presence, to intensify partnerships with customers and suppliers alike, and to open up new markets. The international supplier of tea and herbal extracts as well as herbal raw materials and fruit teas opened its subsidiary Martin Bauer Pte Ltd. in Singapore on January 1, 2009.

"Initially, it will be our job to coordinate raw material purchasing with a focus on tea and supply chain management from South-East Asia. In the medium term it is the aim to consolidate and expand the technical support offered to customers and to intensify sales and marketing activities for our Group's products throughout the region," Tony Laurent explains. He is the General Manager of Martin Bauer Pte Ltd., a foreign subsidiary of the German Martin Bauer company, which opened officially on January 1, 2009. In the medium term, Tony Laurent's team will also be providing technical support to manufacturers of beverages and dairy products, confectionary and baby food throughout the South-East Asian region from the Singapore office.

The family owned and run Martin Bauer Group with its headquarters in Germany decided in favour of Singapore as the legal and geographic location of its foreign subsidiary for two reasons. Firstly, the city state is regarded as being one of the main business centres in South-East Asia and has a well-developed infrastructure. And, as Tony Laurent goes on to say, "Singapore fulfils the requirement for geographic proximity to the tea-growing areas. It is ideal, both for us and for our customers." This is because the strategically favourable location of Martin Bauer Pte Ltd. in Singapore enables the company to improve the efficacy and efficiency of the entire added-value chain, from the sourcing of raw materials, right through to customer sales. By adopting this course of action, the company ensures that its customers receive deliveries that are tailored to meet their needs and are oriented to the constantly changing situation in the market for raw materials. "We have identified the procurement of high-quality raw materials as being one of the greatest challenges facing the industry. Our customers can count on first-class products thanks to our long-standing alliances with suppliers and partners," confirms Tony Laurent, who is acknowledged as a qualified expert for the South-East Asian economic area within the trade. Although born in Australia, he has lived in Indonesia for a number of years. In his position as General Manager of the foreign subsidiary, he can call on a sound knowledge of the market and the trade that he has acquired as a senior executive in various companies in the food industry. Armed with this knowledge, Tony Laurent regards himself as being well equipped to cope with the challenges of the future: "We will start with purchasing and supply chain management for black and green tea. In the medium term, we want to provide an even better service to our existing customers and open up new markets in Asia. The Singapore office will underline our local presence."

Martin Bauer Pte Ltd. Singapore belongs to the nature network – a group of companies with headquarters in Germany, which offers products and services relating to herbal raw materials. The spectrum extends from global sourcing of raw materials and processing, right through to the analysis of herbal raw materials and finished products. More than 20 companies worldwide are currently operating under the nature network umbrella, serving customers in the food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. The global network is internationally represented by four companies: Martin Bauer supplies herbal raw materials and herbal and fruit tea. Plantextrakt is regarded as being one of the leading manufacturers of tea and herbal extracts and decaffeinated tea. The other main members of the Group are PhytoLab, the accredited full-service analytical laboratory company and Finzelberg, which manufactures high-quality herbal extracts for herbal medicinal products and dietary supplements.